- The NASDAQ 100 technology index closed yesterday at another new record high, and is up by 75% from its March low, outperforming the S&P 500.
- The major U.S. stock index, the S&P 500, has seen its futures trade off-hours at a new record high. The Index is now up by more than 58% from its March low. The U.S. stock market has never fallen and recovered so far, so quickly, as it has in 2020. New all-time highs tend to represent good buying opportunities in stocks.
- The U.S. Dollar has made some short-term gains against its long-term bearish trend established over recent weeks following June’s “death cross” in the USD Index.
- The EUR/USD currency pair reversed sharply after hitting a new high just above the major psychological round number at 1.2000, but may well bounce back today. However, 1.2000 does appear to be strong resistance.
- Australian GDP data came in worse than expected, causing the Australian Dollar to weaken somewhat.
- The Indonesian Rupiah has slumped as the government takes measures to strengthen its control of the Indonesian central bank.
- Coronavirus global death tolls are showing signs of beginning to rise again, with deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean at 43% of the global daily total, well exceeding those in both the U.S.A. (17%) and Europe (approx. 6%) which shows that the epicenter of the pandemic is well established in Latin America. Deaths in the U.S.A. have fallen, and the number of new cases reported daily is considerably lower now than it was a few weeks ago.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases stand at over 25.6 million with an average case fatality rate of 3.33%. The number of daily new cases has still not exceeded the all-time high made on 31st July. Global mortality over recent weeks is lower than it was during the first peak in April.
- The U.S.A., Brazil, and India all saw more than 1,000 deaths yesterday from the coronavirus. Cases are also rising strongly in the European Union.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Argentina, Austria, The Bahamas, Belize, Burma, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, U.A.E., Ukraine, U.K., and Venezuela.